JP2007312977A - Liquid preparation device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a new device structure of a liquid preparation device, which can provide a device preparing liquids reliably, inexpensively and simply, with respect to the liquid preparation device for preparing a plurality of kinds of liquids. <P>SOLUTION: A plurality of drug vials 100 are connected to a common syringe pump 20. Each drug vial 100 is provided with an ejecting piping 34. The distal end of the ejecting piping 34 projects onto the lower surface of a turntable 18. In the case of preparing an aqueous drug, the turntable 18 is turned to move the distal end of the ejecting piping 34 connected to a desired drug vial 100 to the upper part of a drug medication vial 110. Then, the drug medication vial 110 is moved upward, and the distal end of the ejecting piping 34 is inserted to the drug medication vial 110. By properly controlling a valve 36 for ejection, a valve 25 for increasing and decreasing a pressure, a valve 28 for releasing the atmosphere, a syringe pump 20 in such a state, the aqueous drug in the drug vial 100 is ejected to the drug medication vial 110. The plurality of drug vials 100 necessary for aqueous drug preparation each are repeatedly subjected to ejecting work, thereby several aqueous drugs are ejected into the drug vial 100 to attain aqueous drug preparation. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid preparation apparatus that prepares a plurality of types of liquids.

  Conventionally, in various fields, liquid preparation has been performed in which a plurality of different liquids are prepared at a fixed ratio. For example, in the pharmaceutical field, a plurality of types of liquid medicine are prepared according to a prescription. Conventionally, such preparation has been performed by measuring each liquid medicine manually using a graduated cylinder or the like. However, such manual weighing is not only complicated, but also has a problem that a mixing error is likely to occur.

  Therefore, a liquid preparation apparatus that automatically prepares liquid such as liquid medicine has been proposed. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a liquid medicine automatic dispensing machine that automates the preparation of liquid medicine. In this liquid medicine automatic dispensing machine, a plurality of chemical containers and pumps installed in the chemical containers are installed on a rotary table. When preparing liquid medicine, move the nozzle of the specified chemical container onto the medicine bottle by driving the rotary table, and then drive the pump to discharge the specified amount of liquid medicine into the medicine bottle. Yes. According to this dispensing machine, the specified amount of the chemical solution is automatically discharged to the medicine bottle, so that the liquid medicine can be dispensed automatically.

JP 2003-325639 A

  However, in such a liquid medicine dispensing machine, the discharge amount of liquid medicine is managed by a pump separated from the prescription bottle. Therefore, it cannot be confirmed whether or not the liquid medicine has been reliably discharged into the prescription bottle. Further, it is necessary to provide a pump capable of strictly controlling the suction and discharge amount in each of the plurality of chemical containers. A pump capable of strictly controlling the suction and discharge amount tends to be expensive, and when a large number of such pumps are provided, the entire apparatus tends to be more expensive. Further, when a large number of pumps are provided, there is a problem that the control becomes complicated.

  The present invention has been made in view of the conventional problems as described above, and an object thereof is to provide a new apparatus configuration of a liquid preparation apparatus.

  In order to achieve the above object, a liquid compounding apparatus which is a preferred embodiment of the present invention is a liquid compounding device that prepares a plurality of types of liquid in a compounding container by supplying liquid from each of a plurality of storage containers to the compounding container. An apparatus comprising: a pressure increasing / decreasing valve provided for each storage container; and a pump connected to the plurality of storage containers via a pipe provided with the pressure increasing / decreasing valve. It is characterized in that the liquid in the selected storage container is discharged to the preparation container by opening the pressure increasing / decreasing valve of the selected storage container selected from among them and changing the pressure of the gas layer in the selected storage container by the pump. To do.

  In a preferred aspect, the liquid preparation apparatus is characterized in that the liquid is discharged from the selected storage container to the preparation container by driving the pump by a volume of a predetermined amount of liquid to be discharged from the selected storage container.

  In a desirable aspect, the liquid preparation device is provided in a syringe pump that functions as the pump, a pressure sensor that measures the pressure of a gas layer in each storage container, and a pipe that connects the selective storage container and the preparation container. A discharge valve, and with the discharge valve closed, the piston of the syringe pump is moved by the volume to pressurize the gas layer in the selective storage container, and the discharge valve is opened after the piston is moved. The liquid is discharged from the selective storage container to the preparation container, and the timing at which the pressure of the gas layer in the selective storage container decreases to the pressure before the movement of the piston is detected based on the measurement result of the pressure sensor. Then, by closing the discharge valve and ending the discharge, a predetermined amount of liquid is discharged from the selective storage container to the preparation container.

  In a desirable aspect, the liquid preparation apparatus includes a pressure sensor that measures the pressure of a gas layer in each storage container, and a discharge valve provided in a pipe that connects the selective storage container and the preparation container. The pump is driven with the discharge valve closed to pressurize the gas layer in the selective storage container to the first pressure, and after pressurizing to the first pressure, the discharge valve is opened to move from the selective storage container to the preparation container Starts the liquid discharge, detects the timing when the pressure of the gas layer in the selective storage container drops to the second pressure based on the measurement result of the pressure sensor, closes the discharge valve at that timing and ends the discharge By doing so, a predetermined amount of liquid is discharged from the selective storage container to the preparation container.

  In a preferred aspect, the second pressure is a predetermined fixed value, and the first pressure is determined based on the volume of a predetermined amount of liquid to be discharged from the selective storage container, the volume of the gas layer in the selective storage container, and the first volume. It is obtained using a fixed value of two pressures. In a desirable aspect, the first pressure is a predetermined fixed value, and the second pressure is determined by the volume of a predetermined amount of liquid to be discharged from the selective storage container, the volume of the gas layer in the selective storage container, and the first pressure. It is obtained using a fixed value of one pressure.

  According to the present invention, a new device configuration of a liquid preparation device is provided. For example, it is possible to provide an apparatus that performs liquid preparation more reliably, inexpensively, and simply.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

  FIG. 1 shows a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram for explaining the function of a liquid medicine preparation device 10 according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a view for explaining the structure of the liquid medicine preparation device 10 of FIG. 1, and FIG. 2 is a schematic top view of the rotary table 18 portion of the liquid medicine preparation apparatus 10. First, the overall configuration of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 together.

  This liquid medicine preparation device 10 is an apparatus that automatically prepares a plurality of kinds of liquid medicines according to a user's instruction. The liquid medicine required for the preparation is stored in the medicine bottles 100a, 100b,... 100 * (hereinafter abbreviations a, b,..., * Are omitted) as storage containers. In this case, a specified amount of liquid medicine is discharged from each medicine bottle 100 to a prescription bottle 110 that is a preparation container.

  A branch pipe 24 is connected to each medicine bottle 100, and a pressure increasing / decreasing valve 25 is provided in the branch pipe 24. Each medicine bottle 100 is connected to a discharge pipe 34, and a discharge valve 36 is provided in the discharge pipe 34. As shown in FIG. 2, the plurality of medicine bottles 100 are arranged along the circumference on the rotary table 18, and similarly to the plurality of medicine bottles 100, the plurality of pressure increasing / decreasing valves 25 are arranged along the circumference. Is done. The plurality of pressure increasing / decreasing valves 25 corresponding to the plurality of medicine bottles 100 are connected to a common pressure increasing / decreasing pipe 22 at the central portion of the circular rotary table 18. The pressurizing / decompressing pipe 22 is connected to a syringe pump 20 as shown in FIG. In FIG. 1, for convenience of illustrating the entire liquid medicine preparation device 10, a plurality of medicine bottles 100 arranged along the circumference are linearly arranged.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, a plurality of medicine bottles 100 are connected to the common pressure increasing / decreasing pipe 22 via the branch pipe 24 and the pressure increasing / decreasing valve 25 corresponding to each medicine bottle 100. Then, the pressure increasing / decreasing pipe 22 is connected to the syringe pump 20. That is, the plurality of medicine bottles 100 are connected to the common syringe pump 20 via the branch pipe 24, the pressure increasing / decreasing valve 25, and the pressure increasing / decreasing pipe 22.

  Each medicine bottle 100 is provided with a discharge pipe 34 and a discharge valve 36. The discharge pipe 34 provided with the discharge valve 36 has one end inserted into the corresponding medicine bottle 100 and the other end protruding from the lower surface of the turntable 18. Note that one end of the discharge pipe 34 inserted in the medicine bottle 100 is submerged in the liquid medicine.

  Below the rotary table 18, a prescription bottle 110 and a vertical movement mechanism 16 that moves the prescription bottle 110 in the vertical direction are provided. When liquid medicine is prepared, the rotary table 18 is rotated, and the tip (other end side) of the discharge pipe 34 connected to the desired medicine bottle 100 is moved above the prescription bottle 110. In this state, the vertical movement mechanism 16 moves the prescription bottle 110 upward, and the tip of the discharge pipe 34 is inserted into the prescription bottle 110.

  Then, with the distal end of the discharge pipe 34 inserted into the prescription bottle 110, the discharge valve 36, the pressure increasing / decreasing valve 25, the air release valve 28, the syringe pump 20 and the like are appropriately controlled, whereby the medicine bottle 100 is controlled. The liquid medicine inside is discharged into the prescription bottle 110. By repeatedly performing the discharge operation for each of the plurality of medicine bottles 100 necessary for liquid medicine preparation, a plurality of liquid medicines are discharged into the prescription bottle 110 to realize liquid medicine preparation.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the inside of the broken line frame A in FIG. 1 in detail. The main part of the liquid medicine preparation apparatus 10 of this embodiment is explained in full detail using FIG.

  The prescription bottle 110 is mounted on a mounting table 42 that is a part of the vertical movement mechanism 16. The mounting table 42 is inserted through a guide shaft 44 extending in the vertical direction, and can move only in the vertical direction along the guide shaft 44. Below the mounting table 42 is supported by an elliptical cam 46. The elliptical cam 46 is rotatable in a vertical plane, and the mounting table 42 moves up and down as the elliptical cam 46 rotates. The rotation of the elliptical cam 46 is controlled by the control unit 56.

  When the mounting table 42 is raised to the highest height, the tip of the discharge pipe 34 protruding from the lower surface of the rotary table 18 is inserted into the prescription bottle 110. The position where the insertion state is reached is the discharge position. Further, when the mounting table 42 is lowered to the lowest descending height, the tip of the discharge pipe 34 is extracted from the prescription bottle 110, and the prescription bottle 110 is moved downward by a predetermined distance from the tip of the discharge pipe 34. That is, the lowest descending height of the mounting table 42 is set to a height that does not cause physical interference between the discharge pipe 34 and the prescription bottle 110 when the turntable 18 rotates.

  In FIG. 3, a mechanism including an elliptical cam 46 is shown as an example of the vertical movement mechanism, but the vertical movement mechanism of the present embodiment is not limited to this. For example, a vertical movement mechanism including a lead screw and a motor may be used.

  The rotary table 18 is a moving mechanism for rotating and moving a plurality of medicine bottles 100 arranged along the circumference on the rotary table 18 so as to place a predetermined medicine bottle 100 substantially vertically above the prescription bottle 110. is there. The rotation table 18 is controlled by a table rotation drive unit 52. A moving mechanism other than the rotary table may be used as long as the predetermined medicine bottle 100 can be selectively disposed substantially vertically above the prescription bottle 110. For example, a moving mechanism such as a belt conveyor or an XY table may be used instead of the rotary table.

  A water sensor 40 is provided at the front end (the other end side) of the discharge pipe 34 protruding from the lower surface of the turntable 18. The water sensor 40 is a sensor that irradiates the discharge pipe 34 with light, for example, and detects the presence or absence of liquid in the discharge pipe 34 based on the amount of transmission at that time. The water sensor 40 is installed so that it can irradiate detection light to a reference position X set near the tip of the discharge pipe 34, and can detect the presence or absence of liquid medicine at the reference position X.

  For example, at the reference position X, the control unit 56 determines when the liquid medicine is switched from the state with liquid medicine to the state without liquid medicine or when the liquid medicine is switched from the state without liquid medicine to the state with liquid medicine. It is determined that the beginning has reached the reference position X. The water sensor 40 is provided to exclude gas in the discharge pipe 34 prior to the liquid medicine discharge. The timing of detection by the water sensor 40 will be described in detail later.

  When the predetermined medicine bottle 100 is disposed substantially vertically above the prescription bottle 110 by the rotary table 18 and the prescription bottle 110 and the predetermined medicine bottle 100 are connected via the discharge pipe 34, the medicine bottle 100 is stored. The liquid medicine is guided to the prescription bottle 110 through the discharge pipe 34. In order to allow or block the flow of the liquid medicine as appropriate, a discharge valve 36 that is controlled to be opened and closed by a control unit 56 is provided in the middle of the discharge pipe 34.

  A desired amount of liquid medicine is discharged from the drug bottle 100 to the prescription bottle 110 by opening or closing the discharge valve 36 appropriately according to the pressure of the gas layer in the drug bottle 100. The discharge valve 36 is preferably a pinch valve. Accordingly, it is possible to simplify the maintenance work by omitting the cleaning operation of the discharge valve 36 and cleaning only the discharge pipe 34. In addition, the discharge pipe 34 can be easily replaced.

  The syringe pump 20 is connected to the medicine bottle 100 via a pressure-increasing / decompressing pipe 22 and a branch pipe 24. The branch pipe 24 is provided with a pressure increasing / decreasing valve 25, and one end of the branch pipe 24 is inserted into the medicine bottle 100. One end of the branch pipe 24 inserted into the medicine bottle 100 is located in the gas layer in the medicine bottle 100 without touching the liquid medicine in the medicine bottle 100.

  As described above (see FIGS. 1 and 2), in the present embodiment, a plurality of medicine bottles 100 are connected to the common pressure-intensifying pipe 22 via the branch pipe 24 and further connected to the common syringe pump 20. Connected. When the pressure of the gas layer in the target medicine bottle 100 is changed by the syringe pump 20, the pressure increasing / decreasing valve 25 corresponding to the target medicine bottle 100 is opened, and it corresponds to the other medicine bottle 100. The pressure increasing / decreasing valve 25 is closed. Thereby, the connection state of only the syringe bottle 20 and the target medicine bottle 100 is ensured. The syringe pump 20 is driven by a pump drive unit 54, and the pump drive unit 54 drives the syringe pump 20 in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 56.

  The pressure increasing / decreasing pipe 22 is further provided with a pressure sensor 26 and an air release valve 28 that are shared by the plurality of medicine bottles 100. The pressure sensor 26 can measure the pressure inside the pressure increasing / decreasing pipe 22. In the state where the pressure increasing / decreasing valve 25 is open, the inside of the pressure increasing / decreasing pipe 22 and the inside of the medicine bottle 100 communicate with each other. The pressure of the gas layer inside the medicine bottle 100 can be measured by the pressure sensor 26. The air release valve 28 is provided on a pipe that communicates the inside and outside of the pressurizing / decompressing pipe 22 with each other.

  The control part 56 controls each part in a liquid medicine preparation apparatus. The control unit 56 stores in advance the discharge positions of various liquid medicines as device information. Moreover, the liquid medicine kind and liquid volume etc. which are required for the preparation input from the user at the time of liquid medicine preparation are temporarily stored as preparation information. And when liquid medicine preparation is performed, the control part 56 controls operation | movement of each part in an apparatus based on preparation information and apparatus information.

  Next, the principle of the discharge operation by the liquid medicine preparation device 10 of the present embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 will be described. In the present embodiment, only the pressure increasing / decreasing valve 25 corresponding to the medicine bottle 100 selected from the plurality of medicine bottles 100 is opened, and the selected medicine bottle 100 and the syringe pump 20 are connected. Then, the syringe pump 20 is driven to pressurize the gas layer inside the medicine bottle 100, and after the pressurization, the discharge valve 36 is opened to supply the liquid medicine inside the medicine bottle 100 to the prescription bottle 110. Is done. At this time, the pressure sensor 26 monitors the change in the pressure of the gas layer in the medicine bottle 100 accompanying the discharge of the liquid medicine, and the discharge start timing and the discharge end timing are controlled.

  Here, the relationship between the target discharge liquid volume ΔVa and the internal pressure of the medicine bottle 100 will be described. When the target discharge liquid volume ΔVa is discharged into the prescription bottle 110, the volume increase amount of the gas in the medicine bottle 100 can be regarded as ΔVa. The total volume of the gas layer in the vial 100 at the start of liquid medicine discharge, the gas in the branch pipe 24, the gas in the pressure-increasing / decompression pipe 22, and the gas in the cylinder of the syringe pump 20 (hereinafter “inside the container” (Referred to as “gas volume”) is Vs, the gas volume in the container after the liquid medicine is discharged is (Vs + ΔVa).

In addition, since it is considered that there is no significant temperature change from the start to the end of the liquid medicine discharge, the product (PV) of the gas volume (V) and the pressure (P) in the container is the liquid medicine discharge. From the start to the end, the value is kept almost constant. Therefore, when the pressure of the gas layer in the medicine bottle 100 at the start of discharge is Ps, and the pressure of the gas layer in the medicine bottle 100 after discharging the liquid medicine of the target discharge liquid volume ΔVa is Pe, the following equation is obtained. It holds.
Vs · Ps = (Vs + ΔVa) · Pe Equation 1

In the present embodiment, the pressure Ps at the start of discharge is obtained by the pressurizing operation of the syringe pump 20. And when the pressure of the gas layer in the pre-pressurized medicine bottle 100 is atmospheric pressure P0 and the gas volume in the container is V0, the following equation is established.
V0 · P0 = Vs · Ps Equation 2
Substituting Equation 2 into Equation 1 yields Equation 3 below.
V0 · P0 = (Vs + ΔVa) · Pe Equation 3

Here, when the pressure Pe of the gas layer in the medicine bottle 100 at the end of the discharge is P0 (atmospheric pressure), the following expression 4 is obtained from the expression 3.
Vs = V0−ΔVa Expression 4
In other words, by setting the volume Vs after pressurization to a value that satisfies this equation 4 and setting the internal pressure before pressurization and at the end of liquid medicine discharge to the same atmospheric pressure P0, the target discharge liquid volume ΔVa is set to the prescription bottle. Can be discharged. Here, as can be seen from Equation 4, the gas volume Vs after pressurization is a value obtained by subtracting the target discharge liquid volume ΔVa from the gas volume V0 before pressurization. In this embodiment, since the syringe pump 20 is used, the volume difference between the volume V0 before pressurization and the volume Vs after pressurization is a change in the volume in the cylinder due to the piston of the syringe pump 20 being driven. Equivalent to. That is, the discharge gas volume of the syringe pump 20 becomes the target discharge liquid volume.

  According to this control method, since the discharge volume of the syringe pump 20 becomes the target discharge liquid volume, the volume of the gas layer in the medicine bottle 100 and the amount of liquid (volume of liquid) in the prescription bottle 110 are unknown. Even if it exists, it is possible to easily control the discharge liquid volume. Moreover, there is a merit that it is not necessary to consider the absolute value of the atmospheric pressure.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a change in internal pressure of the medicine bottle 100 when the liquid medicine is discharged. In FIG. 4, the horizontal axis is the time axis, and the vertical axis indicates the internal pressure (pressure) of the medicine bottle.

First, to adjust the internal pressure of the vial 100 at time _{T 0} to the atmospheric pressure P0. Then, the syringe pump 20 is driven with the discharge valve 36 closed. Internal pressure of the vial 100 from time _{T 0} when driving the syringe pump 20 toward _{T 1} is raised from the atmospheric pressure P0. Pressing operation at time T ₁ when the volume amount by the syringe pump 20 is driven in accordance with the discharge liquid volume is completed. Thereafter, the discharge valve 36 at time _{T 2,} is opened.

When the discharge valve 36 is opened, liquid medicine is discharged from the medicine bottle 100 into the prescription bottle 110. With the discharge of the liquid medicine, time T _2, after the pressure in the vial 100 with the volume of the gas layer in the vial 100 increases decreases.

When the pressure in the vial 100 closes the discharge valve 36 at time T ₃ to return to the atmospheric pressure P0, the principles described above (see Equation 4 from Equation 1), the volume fraction of the syringe pump 20 is driven, That is, the liquid of the target discharge liquid volume is discharged from the medicine bottle 100 into the prescription bottle 110.

Incidentally, unless closed discharge valve 36 at time T _3, the discharge of the liquid medicine is continuously lower than the pressure atmospheric pressure P0 in vial 100 along the curve shown by the broken line in FIG. 4 ( Negative pressure). When the discharge valve 36 is kept open, the pressure at which the discharge stops spontaneously and reaches an equilibrium state is (P0−ρgh). Here, ρgh is the head pressure, and h is the difference between the height of the liquid level of the liquid medicine in the medicine bottle 100 and the height of the tip of the discharge pipe 34.

  Next, the liquid medicine preparation process by the liquid medicine preparation apparatus 10 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 will be described in detail.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the liquid medicine blending process in the present embodiment. When liquid medicine preparation is performed, the user first inputs a liquid medicine type necessary for liquid medicine preparation and the liquid volume thereof to the control unit 56 as preparation information. The control unit 56 generates a drive sequence for each unit based on the input formulation information and pre-stored device information (S500).

  When the drive sequence is generated, liquid medicine is prepared based on the obtained drive sequence. Specifically, first, all the valves are closed, and the rotary table 18 is driven so that the discharge pipe 34 corresponding to the liquid medicine to be discharged is positioned above the prescription bottle 110 (S502). At this time, in order to prevent physical interference between the discharge pipe 34 and the prescription bottle 110, the prescription bottle 110 is lowered to the lowest descending height.

  Next, the air release valve 28 is opened and the syringe pump 20 is sucked to secure a pressurizing stroke (S504). Then, the vertical movement mechanism 16 is driven to raise the prescription bottle 110 to the highest rise height, and the tip of the discharge pipe 34 is inserted into the opening of the prescription bottle 110 (S506).

  Next, based on the detection result of the water sensor 40, it is checked whether or not air (bubbles) is present inside the discharge pipe 34, and it is determined whether or not to perform a process of removing the air in the discharge pipe 34. (S508). And if it is necessary to exclude air, it will progress to S510 and will perform the process which excludes the air (gas) in the discharge piping 34, Then, it will progress to S512 and will perform the discharge process of a liquid medicine. If it is determined in S508 that it is not necessary to exclude air, the gas exclusion process in S510 is omitted, and the process proceeds to S512 to execute the liquid medicine discharge process.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the process of eliminating the gas in the discharge pipe 34 (S510 in FIG. 5). First, the discharge valve 36 is opened (S600), and the pressure-intensifying valve 25 is opened, and the syringe pump 20 is driven to slowly pressurize the inside of the medicine bottle 100 (S602). Accordingly, the inside of the medicine bottle 100 is pressurized at a low speed, and the liquid medicine stored in the medicine bottle 100 moves at a low speed to the vicinity of the tip of the discharge pipe 34.

  At this time, it is detected by the water sensor 40 whether or not the liquid medicine has moved to the reference position X of the discharge pipe 34 (S604), and the syringe pump 20 is driven until the liquid medicine has moved to the reference position X. When the water sensor 40 detects that the liquid medicine has moved to the reference position X, the control unit 56 immediately stops driving the syringe pump 20 (S606).

  Further, the discharge valve 36 is closed (S608), and the communication between the medicine bottle 100 and the prescription bottle 110 is shut off. The movement of the liquid medicine in the discharge pipe 34 stops when the syringe pump 20 stops driving when the reference position X is reached. Thereby, the inside of the discharge pipe 34 is filled with liquid medicine, and the gas existing inside the discharge pipe 34 is almost eliminated. Then, the air release valve 28 is opened (S610), and the process for removing the gas in the discharge pipe 34 is completed.

  The reason why the gas present inside the discharge pipe 34 is excluded is as follows. As described above, in the present embodiment, the gas discharge volume of the sealed space, that is, the drug bottle 100 and the pressure-increasing / decreasing pipe 22 is set as the target discharge liquid volume. And the discharge liquid volume is controlled by giving the internal pressure variation | change_quantity according to this gas volume variation | change_quantity. Therefore, if the discharge pipe 34 is not filled with liquid, an error occurs in the volume of liquid discharged to the prescription bottle 110. In order to reduce this error, in this embodiment, the inside of the discharge pipe 34 is filled with liquid medicine in advance to eliminate excess gas. This gas exclusion process may be performed only when the medicine bottle 100 is discharged for the first time. That is, since the gas in the discharge pipe 34 is excluded after the second time, this gas exclusion process becomes unnecessary.

  When the gas in the discharge pipe 34 is removed, the liquid medicine discharge process is started.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the liquid medicine discharge process (S512 in FIG. 5). When the liquid medicine discharge process is performed, first, all the valves 25, 28, and 36 are closed (S700), and then the pressure-intensifying valve 25 is opened (S702), and the syringe pump 20 sets the target discharge liquid volume ΔVa. The gas of the same volume is discharged and the gas layer in the medicine bottle 100 is pressurized (S704).

  Subsequently, the discharge valve 36 is opened (S706). When the discharge valve 36 is opened, the liquid medicine stored in the medicine bottle 100 is supplied from the inside of the medicine bottle 100 to the inside of the prescription bottle 110 through the discharge pipe 34. As the liquid medicine is supplied, the gas volume of the medicine bottle 100 increases and the internal pressure decreases. Changes in internal pressure at this time are monitored by the pressure sensor 26.

  The control unit 56 maintains the discharge valve 36 in the open state until the internal pressure of the medicine bottle 100 reaches the atmospheric pressure P0, and then controls the discharge valve 36 at the timing when the internal pressure of the medicine bottle 100 reaches the atmospheric pressure P0. It closes and the discharge of liquid medicine is stopped (S708). Then, after opening the air release valve 28 provided in the pressurizing and depressurizing pipe 22 to return the internal pressure of the medicine bottle 100 to the atmospheric pressure (S712), the liquid medicine discharge process is ended.

  Returning to FIG. 5, when the liquid medicine discharge process ends, the vertical movement mechanism 16 is driven to lower the prescription bottle 110, and the discharge of one kind of liquid medicine is ended (S <b> 514). If one type of liquid medicine discharge is completed, the control part 56 will judge whether the liquid medicine required for mixing still remains based on the calculated drive sequence (S516). When there is a liquid medicine necessary for the preparation, the rotary table 18 is driven to move the discharge pipe 34 corresponding to the liquid medicine to above the prescription bottle 110 (S518). Then, the steps from S504 to S516 are executed again. If this is repeated and all of the liquid medicine necessary for the preparation is discharged into the prescription bottle 110, the liquid medicine preparation is completed.

  As is apparent from the above description, according to the present embodiment, the volume of the discharged liquid is controlled by controlling the internal pressure of the sealed container, that is, the medicine bottle 100. Moreover, if the syringe pump 20 capable of controlling the gas suction / discharge amount is used, the discharge liquid volume can be controlled without being influenced by the volume of the gas layer in the medicine bottle 100, the absolute value of the atmospheric pressure, or the like. Therefore, highly accurate automatic liquid preparation can be performed with a simpler configuration. In addition, one syringe pump 20 and pressure sensor 26 are configured to be shared by a plurality of medicine bottles 100. Therefore, a liquid medicine preparation device can be provided at low cost. Moreover, compared with the case where a plurality of pumps are used, maintenance such as pump control and wiring can be simplified. Furthermore, according to this embodiment, once the medicine bottle 100 is sealed, it is not necessary to release the sealed state until there is no liquid medicine in the medicine bottle 100. Therefore, the risk of reducing the discharge accuracy due to air leakage due to a sealing failure or the like is extremely reduced.

  As described above, the liquid medicine preparation device 10 using the syringe pump 20 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 has been described as an embodiment of the present invention. The pump used in the apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to the syringe pump 20, and other pumps may be used. For example, a diaphragm pump may be used. Therefore, next, another embodiment using a diaphragm pump as a pump will be described.

  FIG. 8 is a view for explaining an embodiment using the diaphragm pump 21 (hereinafter, a second embodiment). In the structural comparison, the second embodiment shown in FIG. 8 and the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 use a diaphragm pump 21 in place of the syringe pump 20, and each medicine is accordingly accompanied. Two points are different in that the liquid level sensor 60 is provided in the bottle 100.

  And about the other part, ie, the part of the code | symbol same as the code | symbol shown in FIG. 3 in FIG. 8, 2nd embodiment shown in FIG. 8 and embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-3 have the mutually same structure. Adopted. Therefore, description of the components shown in FIG. 3 will be omitted, and the second embodiment shown in FIG. 8 will be described.

  In the second embodiment, a plurality of medicine bottles 100 are connected to a common pressure increasing / decreasing pipe 22 via a branch pipe 24 and a pressure increasing / decreasing valve 25 corresponding to each medicine bottle 100. The pressure increasing / decreasing pipe 22 is connected to the diaphragm pump 21. That is, the plurality of drug vials 100 are connected to the common diaphragm pump 21 via the branch pipe 24, the pressure increasing / decreasing valve 25, and the pressure increasing / decreasing pipe 22.

  In the embodiment using the syringe pump (reference numeral 20 in FIG. 3), the discharge liquid volume is controlled by the discharge gas volume of the syringe pump. On the other hand, in the second embodiment, the discharge liquid volume is controlled by the pressure by the diaphragm pump 21.

  In the second embodiment shown in FIG. 8 as well, only the pressure increasing / decreasing valve 25 corresponding to the medicine bottle 100 selected from among the plurality of medicine bottles 100 is opened, and the selected medicine bottle 100 and the diaphragm pump 21 are opened. And are connected. Then, the diaphragm pump 21 is driven to pressurize the gas layer inside the medicine bottle 100. After the pressurization, the discharge valve 36 is opened to supply the liquid medicine inside the medicine bottle 100 to the prescription bottle 110. Is done. At this time, the pressure sensor 26 monitors the change in the pressure of the gas layer in the medicine bottle 100 accompanying the discharge of the liquid medicine, and the discharge start timing and the discharge end timing are controlled. Therefore, the principle of controlling the discharge liquid volume by pressure will be described.

  The total volume of the gas layer in the medicine bottle 100, the gas in the branch pipe 24, and the gas in the pressurization / decompression pipe 22 is defined as the gas volume in the container. The gas volume in the container after being pressurized by the diaphragm pump 21 is V1, and the pressure is P1. Thereafter, when the target discharge liquid volume ΔVa is discharged to the prescription bottle 110, the volume of the gas layer in the medicine bottle 100 increases by ΔVa. Therefore, assuming that the gas volume in the container after discharging the liquid medicine of the target discharge liquid volume ΔVa is V2 and the pressure is P2, V2 = V1 + ΔVa.

In addition, since it is considered that there is no significant temperature change from the start to the end of the liquid medicine discharge, the product (PV) of the gas volume (V) and the pressure (P) in the container is the liquid medicine discharge. From the start to the end, the value is kept almost constant. Therefore, the following equation holds.
P1 · V1 = P2 · V2 = P2 · (V1 + ΔVa) Equation 5

Then, the following equation is derived from Equation 5.
P1 = P2 · (1 + ΔVa / V1) Equation 6
That is, when P2 is fixed to a predetermined value as a threshold value for stopping the discharge, the diaphragm pump 21 should pressurize from the fixed value of P2, the target discharge liquid volume ΔVa, and the gas volume V1 in the storage container based on Expression 6. The pressure P1 can be determined.

  Here, of the gas volume in the container, the volume inside the branch pipe 24 and the volume inside the pressurizing / decompressing pipe 22 can be obtained in advance as design values of the apparatus. And among the gas volumes in the container, the volume of the gas layer in the medicine bottle 100 can be obtained from the internal capacity of the medicine bottle 100 and the amount of liquid medicine stored in the medicine bottle 100. The internal capacity of the medicine bottle 100 can be grasped in advance as the specification of the medicine bottle 100.

  On the other hand, the amount of liquid medicine stored in the medicine bottle 100 changes with the discharge operation or the like. Therefore, in the second embodiment shown in FIG. 8, a liquid level sensor 60 is provided in each medicine bottle 100 in order to detect a changing amount of liquid medicine. In other words, the liquid level of the liquid medicine amount stored in the medicine bottle 100 is always detected by the liquid level sensor 60, and the liquid medicine amount is obtained based on the detected height.

  Thereby, the volume of the gas layer in the medicine bottle 100 is obtained from the internal volume of the medicine bottle 100 and the amount of liquid medicine, and further, the volume of the gas layer in the medicine bottle 100 and the branch piping obtained as the design value of the apparatus in advance Based on the volume inside 24 and the volume inside the pressurizing / decompressing pipe 22, the gas volume in the container can be known.

  As described above, in the second embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the pressure to be pressurized by the diaphragm pump 21 from the fixed value of P2, the target discharge liquid volume ΔVa, and the gas volume V1 in the storage container based on the equation (6). P1 can be determined.

The following equation can also be derived from Equation 5.
P2 = P1 · V1 / (V1 + ΔVa) Equation 7
That is, when the pressure P1 to be pressurized by the diaphragm pump 21 is fixed to a predetermined value, the threshold value for stopping the discharge based on Expression 7 from the fixed value of P1, the target discharge liquid volume ΔVa, and the gas volume V1 in the container. P2 can also be obtained.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a change in internal pressure of the medicine bottle 100 when the liquid medicine is discharged in the second embodiment. In FIG. 9, the horizontal axis is the time axis, and the vertical axis indicates the internal pressure (pressure) of the medicine bottle.

First, to adjust the internal pressure of the vial 100 at time _{T 0} to the atmospheric pressure P0. Then, the diaphragm pump 21 is driven with the discharge valve 36 closed. Internal pressure of the vial 100 from time _{T 0} when driving the diaphragm pump 21 toward _{T 1} is raised from the atmospheric pressure P0. The pressurizing operation is completed at time T ₁ that reaches the pressure P1 to pressurize the diaphragm pump 21. Thereafter, the discharge valve 36 at time _{T 2,} is opened.

When the discharge valve 36 is opened, liquid medicine is discharged from the medicine bottle 100 into the prescription bottle 110. With the discharge of the liquid medicine, time T _2, after the pressure in the vial 100 with the volume of the gas layer in the vial 100 increases decreases. When closing the discharge valve 36 at time T ₃ the pressure in the vial 100 reaches the pressure P2 which defines a discharge stop timing, water liquid ejection target liquid volume from the vial 100. The principles described above The medicine is discharged into the prescription bottle 110.

  That is, P2 is fixed to a predetermined value as a threshold for stopping the discharge, and the pressure P1 is obtained based on Equation 6 from the fixed value of P2, etc., so that the liquid of the target discharge liquid volume is dispensed from the medicine bottle 100. It can be discharged into the bottle 110. Alternatively, the pressure P1 to be pressurized is fixed to a predetermined value, and the threshold value P2 is obtained based on Formula 7 from the fixed value of P1, etc. It can be discharged into the inside.

  Next, the liquid medicine preparation process in 2nd embodiment is explained in full detail. Also in the second embodiment, the liquid medicine blending process is performed according to the flowchart shown in FIG. However, in the second embodiment, the process of S504 is not necessary. Moreover, in 2nd embodiment, the liquid medicine discharge process differs from the content (S512 (FIG. 7)) shown in FIG. Then, the liquid medicine discharge process in 2nd embodiment is explained in full detail.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining liquid medicine discharge processing in the second embodiment. When liquid medicine discharge processing is performed, first, all valves 25, 28, and 36 are closed (S1000). And the control part 56 calculates the gas volume V1 in a storage container from the liquid level height etc. of the liquid medicine detected by the liquid level sensor 60 (S1002). Further, the control unit 56 fixes P2 to a predetermined value as a threshold for stopping the discharge, and calculates the pressure P1 based on Expression 6 from the fixed value of P2 or the like (S1004). In S1004, the pressure P1 to be pressurized may be fixed to a predetermined value, and the threshold value P2 may be calculated based on Equation 7 from the fixed value of P1.

  Thereafter, the pressure increasing / decreasing valve 25 is opened (S1006), and the diaphragm pump 21 is driven to start pressurization (S1008). When pressurization is started, pressurization is continued until the pressure in the vial 100 reaches P1 (S1010).

  When the pressure in the medicine bottle 100 reaches P1, the diaphragm pump 21 is stopped (S1011), the discharge valve 36 is opened (S1012), and when the discharge valve 36 is opened, the medicine bottle 100 is stored. The liquid medicine thus supplied is supplied from the inside of the medicine bottle 100 to the inside of the prescription bottle 110 through the discharge pipe 34. As the liquid medicine is supplied, the gas volume of the medicine bottle 100 increases and the internal pressure decreases. Changes in internal pressure at this time are monitored by the pressure sensor 26.

  The control unit 56 checks whether or not the internal pressure of the medicine bottle 100 reaches the threshold value P2 (S1014), maintains the open state of the discharge valve 36 until the threshold value P2 is reached, and then the medicine bottle 100. At the timing when the internal pressure reaches the threshold value P2, the discharge valve 36 is closed to stop the discharge of liquid medicine (S1016). Then, after opening the air release valve 28 provided in the pressurization / decompression pipe 22 to return the internal pressure of the medicine bottle 100 to the atmospheric pressure (S1018), the liquid medicine discharge process is ended.

  The preferred embodiments (including the second embodiment) of the present invention have been described above, but the above-described embodiments are merely examples in all respects, and do not limit the scope of the present invention.

It is a whole block diagram for demonstrating the function of the liquid medicine preparation apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a schematic top view of the rotary table part of a liquid medicine preparation device. It is a figure for demonstrating the inside of the broken-line frame A of FIG. 1 in detail. It is a figure which shows the internal pressure change of the medicine bottle at the time of liquid medicine discharge. It is a flowchart for demonstrating a liquid medicine preparation process. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the exclusion process of the gas in discharge piping. It is a flowchart for demonstrating a liquid medicine discharge process. It is a figure for demonstrating 2nd embodiment using a diaphragm pump. It is a figure which shows the internal pressure change of the medicine bottle at the time of the liquid medicine discharge in 2nd embodiment. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the liquid medicine discharge process of 2nd embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Liquid medicine preparation device, 20 Syringe pump, 21 Diaphragm pump, 22 Pressure-reducing pipe, 25 Pressure-reducing valve, 26 Pressure sensor, 28 Air release valve, 34 Discharge pipe, 36 Discharge valve, 56 Control part, 100 medicines Bottle, 110 medication bottle.

Claims (6)

A liquid blending device that blends a plurality of types of liquids in a blending container by supplying liquid from each of a plurality of storage containers to the blending container,
A pressure increasing / decreasing valve provided for each storage container;
A pump connected to a plurality of storage containers via a pipe provided with a pressure increasing / decreasing valve;
Have
By opening the pressure increase / decrease valve of the selected storage container selected from the plurality of storage containers and changing the pressure of the gas layer in the selected storage container by the pump, the liquid in the selected storage container is discharged to the preparation container. To
A liquid preparation apparatus characterized by the above. The liquid preparation device according to claim 1,
Discharging the liquid from the selective storage container to the preparation container by driving the pump by the volume of the predetermined amount of liquid to be discharged from the selective storage container;
A liquid preparation apparatus characterized by the above. The liquid preparation apparatus according to claim 2,
A syringe pump that functions as the pump;
A pressure sensor for measuring the pressure of the gas layer in each storage container;
A discharge valve provided in a pipe connecting the selective storage container and the preparation container;
Have
With the discharge valve closed, the piston of the syringe pump is moved by the volume to pressurize the gas layer in the selective storage container, and after the piston is moved, the discharge valve is opened to transfer the liquid from the selective storage container to the preparation container. Detecting the timing when the pressure of the gas layer in the selective storage container drops to the pressure before the movement of the piston based on the measurement result of the pressure sensor, closing the discharge valve at that timing and discharging By discharging the predetermined amount of liquid from the selective storage container to the preparation container,
A liquid preparation apparatus characterized by the above. The liquid preparation device according to claim 1,
A pressure sensor for measuring the pressure of the gas layer in each storage container;
A discharge valve provided in a pipe connecting the selective storage container and the preparation container;
Have
The pump is driven with the discharge valve closed to pressurize the gas layer in the selective storage container to the first pressure, and after pressurizing to the first pressure, the discharge valve is opened to move from the selective storage container to the preparation container Starts the liquid discharge, detects the timing when the pressure of the gas layer in the selective storage container drops to the second pressure based on the measurement result of the pressure sensor, closes the discharge valve at that timing and ends the discharge By discharging a predetermined amount of liquid from the selective storage container to the preparation container,
A liquid preparation apparatus characterized by the above. The liquid preparation device according to claim 4,
The second pressure is a predetermined fixed value,
The first pressure is obtained using a volume of a predetermined amount of liquid to be discharged from the selective storage container, a volume of a gas layer in the selective storage container, and a fixed value of the second pressure.
A liquid preparation apparatus characterized by the above. The liquid preparation device according to claim 4,
The first pressure is a predetermined fixed value,
The second pressure is obtained using a volume of a predetermined amount of liquid to be discharged from the selective storage container, a volume of a gas layer in the selective storage container, and a fixed value of the first pressure.
A liquid preparation apparatus characterized by the above.

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